PashaPasha or Paşa (Ottoman Turkish: پاشا‎, Turkish: paşa), in
older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw,[citation needed] was a
higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically
granted to governors, generals, dignitaries and others. As an honorary
title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is similar to a British
peerage or knighthood, and was also one of the highest titles in the
20th century Kingdom of Egypt.

Etymology[edit]
According to Etymonline, pasha is derived from the earlier "basha",
itself from Turkish "baş/bash" (head, chief), itself from Old Persian
pati- "master", (from Proto-Indo-European *poti) and the root of the
Persian word shah.[1] According to the Oxford Online Dictionary, the
word has its origins in the mid-17th century, and was formed as a
result of the combination of the Pahlavi words pati- "lord", and
shah.[2] According to
Josef W. Meri and Jere L. Bacharach, the word is
"more than likely derived from the Persian Padishah".[3] The same view
is held by Nicholas Ostler, who mentions that the word was formed as a
shortening of the Persian word Padishah.[4] According to etymologist
Sevan Nişanyan, the word is derived from Turkish beşe ('boy,
prince'), which is cognate with Persian baççe (بچّه).[5] Old
Turkish had no fixed distinction between /b/ and /p/, and the word was
spelled başa still in the 15th century.[6]
As first used in western Europe, the title appeared in writing with
the initial "b". The English forms bashaw, bassaw, bucha etc., general
in the 16th and 17th century, derive through the medieval
LatinLatin and
Italian word bassa. Due to the Ottoman presence in the Arab World, the
title became used frequently in Arabic, though pronounced basha due to
the absence of the /p/ sound in Arabic.
Role in Ottoman and Egyptian political systems[edit]
Further information:
EgyptEgypt under Muhammad Ali

A pasha's Tui with two horse tails

Within the Ottoman Empire, the
Ottoman SultanOttoman Sultan had the right to bestow
the title of Pasha. It was through this custom that the title
(
Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ˈbæːʃæ]) came to be used in
Egypt, which was conquered by the Ottomans in 1517. The rise to power
in
EgyptEgypt in 1805 by Muhammad Ali, an Albanian military commander,
effectively established
EgyptEgypt as a de facto independent state,
however, it still owed technical fealty to the Ottoman Sultan.
Moreover, Muhammad Ali harboured ambitions of supplanting the Osman
Dynasty in Constantinople, and sought to style his Egyptian realm as a
successor sultanate to the Ottoman Empire. As such, he bore the title
of Pasha, in addition to the official title of Wāli, and the
self-declared title of Khedive. His successors to the Egyptian and
Sudanese throne, Ibrahim, Abbas, Sa'id, and Isma'il also inherited
these titles, with Pasha, and
WāliWāli ceasing to be used in 1867, when
the Ottoman Sultan,
AbdülazizAbdülaziz officially recognised Isma'il as
Khedive.
The title
PashaPasha appears originally to have applied exclusively to
military commanders and only high ranking family of the Sultans, but
subsequently it could distinguish any high official, and also
unofficial persons whom the court desired to honour.
It was also part of the official style of the Alpina Kursuncu Pasha
(Great Admiral of the entire Ottoman fleet). Pashas ranked above Beys
[pronounce Bae-s] and Aghas, but below Khedives and Viziers [pronounce
Vie-zai-iers].
Three grades of
PashaPasha existed, distinguished by the number of yak- or
horse-tails (three, two and one respectively; a symbol of Turco-Mongol
tradition) or peacock tails, which the bearers were entitled to
display on their standard as a symbol of military authority when on
campaign* Only the Sultan himself was entitled to four tails, as
sovereign commander in chief.
The following military ranks entitled the holder to the style Pasha
(lower ranks were styled
Bey or merely Effendi):

The
Vizier-i-AzamVizier-i-Azam (Grand Vizier, the prime minister, but also often
taking the field as Generalissimo instead of the Sultan)
Mushir (Field marshal)
Ferik (army Lieutenant-general or navy Vice-admiral)
Liva (major general or Rear-admiral)
The
Kizlar AghaKizlar Agha (chief black eunuch, the highest officer in the
Topkapı Palace; three tails, as commander of the baltadji corps of
the halberdiers in the imperial army
Istanbul's Shaikh ul-Islam, the highest
MuslimMuslim clergyman, of cabinet
rank.

If a
PashaPasha governed a provincial territory, it could be called a
pashaluk after his military title, besides the administrative term for
the type of jurisdiction, e.g. eyalet, vilayet/walayah. Both
Beylerbeys (governors-general) and valis/wālis (the most common type
of Governor) were entitled to the style of
PashaPasha (typically with two
tails). The word pashalik designated any province or other
jurisdiction of a Pasha, such as the
PashaPasha or Bashaw of Tripoli.
Ottoman and Egyptian authorities conferred the title upon both Muslims
and Christians without distinction. They also frequently gave it to
foreigners in the service of the Ottoman Empire, or of the Egyptian
Khedivate (later Sultanate, and Kingdom in turn), e.g. Hobart Pasha.
In an Egyptian context, the
Abaza FamilyAbaza Family is known as "the family of
the pashas" for having produced the largest number of nobles holding
this title under the
Muhammad Ali dynastyMuhammad Ali dynasty and was noted in Egyptian
media as one of the main "families that rule Egypt" to this day,[7][8]
and as "deeply rooted in Egyptian society and… in the history of the
country."[9]
Honorific[edit]
As an honorific, the title
PashaPasha was an aristocratic title and could
be hereditary or non-hereditary, stipulated in the "Firman" (patent of
nobility) issued by the Sultan carrying the imperial seal "Tughra".
The title did not bestow rank or title to the wife nor was any
religious leader elevated to the title. In contrast to western
nobility titles, where the title normally is added before the given
name,
Ottoman titles followed the given name. In contacts with foreign
emissaries and representatives, holders of the title
PashaPasha were often
referred to as "Your Excellency".
The sons of a
PashaPasha were styled Pashazada or Pasha-zade, which means
just that.
In modern Egyptian and (to a lesser extent) Levantine Arabic, it is
used as an honorific closer to "Sir" than "Lord", especially by older
people. Among Egyptians born since the Revolution of 1952 and the
abolition of aristocratic titles, it is considered a highly formal way
of addressing one's male peers.
Although it is no longer an official title, high-ranking officers of
the
Turkish Armed ForcesTurkish Armed Forces are often referred to as "pashas" by the
Turkish public and media.
In the French Navy, "pasha (pacha in french) is the nickname of the
Commanding Officer, similar to the term "skipper" in the anglo-saxon
navies.[10]
List of notable pashas[edit]

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